‘Barefoot Contessa’ Ina Garten Uses 1 Trick for Her Chicken Pot Pie Recipe to Make It More Flavorful
Barefoot Contessa star Ina Garten knows her way around a satisfying comfort food recipe and her chicken pot pie recipe is no exception. The filling is thick and delicious and the crust is perfectly flaky. Garten uses one secret trick that makes all the difference in the flavor and it’s so simple.
Ina Garten uses the simplest trick for her chicken pot pie recipe
While demonstrating how to make the chicken pot pie recipe on the Barefoot Contessa cooking show, Garten pulled out a simple trick that she swears by for the best flavor in this hearty dish.
“I have a little trick for chicken stock — even if it’s really flavorful you want the entire dish to be flavorful,” she explained. Garten’s hack? Add two bouillon cubes to the simmering stock for the best flavor. That’s it!
Of course, Garten’s chicken pot pie recipe is loaded with vegetables and she has a perfect shortcut — use frozen peas and frozen onions. Her other tip is to roast the chicken, on the bone, with the skin on “to keep them really nice and succulent.”
Garten uses her foolproof crust recipe to top off her chicken pot pies, but she has an even easier option. “If you don’t even have time to do the dough, what you can do is get some frozen puff pastry and defrost it in the refrigerator and use that instead. It’s light, it’s wonderful, and it’s really easy,” she explained.
Ina Garten’s classic chicken pot pie recipe
Garten’s classic chicken pot pie recipe has a delicious thick filling and the perfect crust to top it off. She has one genius trick that makes the crust stick to the ramekin — brush each dish with an egg wash around the top edge so that when the dough is place on top, it can be pressed onto the bowl. (You can find the recipe on The Food Network website.)
Filling ingredients
- 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
- 1 ½ cups frozen small whole onions
- ½ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the chicken on a baking sheet and rub each with olive oil, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken for 35 to 40 minutes, until it’s cooked through. Allow the chicken to cool slightly, then remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and cut the chicken into cubes.
Heat the chicken stock and bouillon cubes in a small saucepan.
In a larger pot, melt the butter and saute the onions for 10 to 15 minutes over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook it over low heat for 2 minutes. Then add the stock to the pot and simmer for another minute, stirring to thicken. Season the mixture with 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add heavy cream and the meat, vegetables, and parsley, stirring to combine everything.
Use Garten’s perfect pie crust recipe or puffed pastry to top the individual ramekins once you’ve filled them with the chicken and vegetables.
Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. The top will become golden brown and puff slightly.
